Chapter 349: Upgrade! Balthazar Lot

Chapter 349: Chapter 349: Upgrade! Balthazar Lot

He gazed at the street outside his window. In the distance, he could faintly make out a large crowd gathered in the city square.

’It seems like the officials are planning a large public funeral in the next few days.’

However, he didn’t pay it much mind.

His mind was currently consumed with one thing: getting stronger.

For him, being forcibly dragged into the major incident in the Underground City had been perilous, but the final rewards were exceptionally bountiful.

He planned to use the next few safe days in the hotel to sort through his gains and comprehensively enhance his strength.

After the incident in the Pantheon where he came face-to-face with an avatar of an Evil God...

Lance now felt an extremely intense sense of insecurity about his own strength.

’I have to get stronger.’

Lance clenched his fists.

’Strong enough that one day, I can return that glare.’

He had originally thought that as long as he leveled up step by step in this world and one day advanced to the Legendary Tier...

...he would have more than enough power to protect himself in a world where most people were just Ordinary Professionals.

But now, it seemed that goal was far from enough.

In this world, under the shadow of hidden Evil Gods and various ancient beings, a Legendary might have only just earned a seat at the table.

’A little stronger... even stronger.’

Lance turned and walked into the luxuriously decorated washroom. He turned on the brass faucet and splashed his face hard with cold water, forcing his agitated mind to cool down.

He dried the droplets from his face, pulled open the front of his shirt, and once again looked down at the mark on the right side of his chest, which resembled the twisted suture lines of a Centipede.

Under the analysis of his Foreigner Source Material’s [Outer World True Vision], the detailed information about this mark once again appeared in his mind.

[Progress: 90%]

[Warning: This mark is a divine blessing forcibly bestowed by the Evil God Faros in an attempt to win you over and assimilate you. This blessing is typically exclusive to the Faceless Divine Son. It is a poison pill wrapped in a sugar coating.]

’It’s almost complete.’

Lance stared at the progress bar.

Once the progress reached one hundred percent, he would find out what specific Effect this Evil God’s blessing would have on him.

However, just from the system’s commentary, he knew that Faros absolutely did not have good intentions.

After all, gods weren’t some kind of generous, gullible fools.

Not every god could afford to play around like Chaos, the God of Rebellion.

It made no sense for a god to suffer such a huge loss at the hands of a mortal, only to turn around and mercifully grant them a powerful blessing.

On the road earlier, Lance had even considered triggering the [Ouroboros Ring] to kill himself and resurrect, just to see if he could forcibly erase this disgusting mark.

However, after carefully checking his system panel, he dismissed the thought.

This was because the mark, just like the [Nightmare Erosion] Yvette had left on him before, was absurdly labeled as a "buff" in the system’s judgment.

This was the first time Lance felt that his golden finger was a bit rigid in its judgment mechanics.

He could never figure out what the system’s criteria for judging "buffs" and "debuffs" were based on. Was it dependent on the caster’s own intentions?

For example, when Yvette had inflicted the Nightmare Erosion on him, in her own subjective consciousness, she had sincerely believed that pulling Lance into the Nightmare was for his own good.

So, when the system made its judgment, it registered it as a buff.

Then what about in the eyes of this Evil God?

In Faros’s perception, did He see granting a mortal the status of a Divine Son—even if it stripped the mortal of their sanity and soul—as a supreme gift and honor?

Was that why the system once again judged it as a buff? Or was it because he himself had the ability to resolve the negative effects of this buff?

’Forget it. There’s no use thinking so much about it.’

Lance shook his head and pulled his shirt closed again, covering the red mark.

’I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I should focus on leveling up. To forge strong steel, one must first be strong.’

Having made his decision, Lance strode back into the bedroom and flopped onto the large bed, which was covered with a soft, velvet sheet.

"Ah..."

He let out a sigh of comfort.

It had been a very, very long time since he had slept on such a soft bed in such a safe and comfortable environment.

He had barely closed his eyes since entering the Underground City.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the pleasant sensation of being enveloped in softness for just a moment.

Then, he abruptly sat up.

’Time to level up.’ Killing a Heroic Spirit Species single-handedly in a desperate situation, protecting the retreat of tens of thousands... each and every one of these feats had stimulated his Pale Guard profession, completely filling the tens of thousands of experience points needed to go from Level 4 to Level 5.

"Level up!"

He chanted silently in his mind.

His Main Profession, [Pale Guard], would level up to LV5!

And with it would come the long-awaited [Jhin, the Virtuoso]!

As Lance confirmed the upgrade on his panel...

Immediately after, Lance’s vision went black as a feeling of weightlessness washed over him.

When his sight cleared again, he found that he was no longer in his hotel room.

He had been pulled into a strange, independent space.

The ground here seemed to be a thin surface of water. Stepping on it created concentric ripples, yet there was no sensation of gravity at all.

Looking up, he saw a vast, boundless starry sky overhead.

Lance immediately understood. This must be the depths of his soul, a node where his consciousness intersected with the Star Realm.

He stood under the starry sky, trying to gaze at the twinkling stars, only to find they were all shrouded in a thick fog, making them appear blurry and obscuring their true trajectories.

Just then, Lance’s keen Perception detected an anomaly.

He spun around, took half a step back, and assumed a defensive stance.

Because...

...there was another person standing in this space!

It was a slender figure clad in a gray-black robe.

It seemed Lance’s authority in this space was omniscient; the moment he saw the other person, he knew their identity.

He was the original Jhin, the Virtuoso,

Balthazar Lot!

"You... How did you get into my consciousness?!"

Lance stared at the figure, his eyes filled with vigilance.

Of course, he knew in his heart that the figure standing before him couldn’t possibly be Balthazar himself.

The Mad King had long since been reduced to dust in the annals of history centuries ago.

But as if in response to Lance’s confusion, a stream of information entered his consciousness.

It turned out that this figure was a spiritual image that the Mad King had intentionally left behind within the core information of the [Jhin, the Virtuoso] Profession, using some profound method when he first inscribed it.

In other words, it was a piece of guidance specifically left to lead his successors.

In this world, the secret Knowledge that truly led to the realm of godhood had always been monopolized and controlled by the great families and the Royal Family.

Ordinary people had no right to access it.

Balthazar’s purpose in leaving this message was to tear a hole in this tightly-controlled net of information, to show successors like Lance, who had struggled so hard to set foot on this path, the way forward.

How to, step by step, reach the very pinnacle of this world!

As for why the Mad King had done this, or what his intentions were, Lance had no idea.

Balthazar wore a plain, silver-white mask, making it impossible for Lance to see his true face.

However, to Lance’s surprise, this Tyrant, who was known in the Kingdom’s history by the title "Mad King," was not mad at all as he stood before him. Instead, he exuded a sense of calm wisdom.

Balthazar seemed to see through Lance’s doubts from behind the mask.

"There is no need to be tense, young successor."

Balthazar spoke.

"Just as you have surmised, I am merely a stream of information sealed within the Profession’s data."

"If my presence makes you uneasy, you need only have the thought to make me disappear from here, and I will follow your will, instantly and utterly annihilating myself without a trace."

Balthazar knew that as the master of this Soul Space, Lance could fully perceive the truth or falsehood of every word he spoke.

"I am not the real Balthazar, either. I am just a guide left behind in the Profession’s brand by its creator."

His mission was to wait, for however long it took, to give the successor one, and only one, piece of true guidance.

Therefore, he preferred to be called the "Lantern Carrier."

And with this space confirming his words, Lance believed him.

In the conversation that followed, the Lantern Carrier began to patiently teach Lance how to understand and use the Power of the special Profession, [Jhin, the Virtuoso].

"You need to understand that Jhin, the Virtuoso is completely different from the traditional Extraordinary Professions of this world."